Archive for March 2014

The 11th Annual BORP Hoops Classic on March 22nd & 23rd was a jam-packed (17 games, 8 teams) weekend that featured high quality play and competitive fire from every team. The BORP All Stars played three games on both days and finished with a 4-2 record while the BORP Junior Road Warriors tuned up for Junior Nationals with two games on Sunday.

This was the smoothest running Hoops Classic of all time and that would not have happened without the wonderful support of all the volunteers, officials, teams, families and friends. Thank you to all who helped make the event a success!

At the final BORP All Stars practice prior to the tournament the coaching staff challenged the team to start strong and start strong they did. A 20-1 BORP run at the start of the first game of the day against the San Jose Spartans proved to be the deciding factor as San Jose made several valiant runs at the BORP lead but couldn’t overcome the early deficit.

Saturday for the All Stars ended with a solid performance against the Santa Rosa Blazers. Marcus Oden again led the way for the All Stars with 18 points as the All Stars used defensive pressure to pull away from the Blazers in the second half to secure the win.
BORP All Stars 36 – Santa Rosa Blazers 26
Marcus Oden: 18
Art Renowitzky: 6
Steve Lau: 6
Sam Marks: 2
Lamile Perry: 2
Sam Craven: 2

Marcus Oden of the BORP All Stars grabs a rebound against the Shasta Lakers

SUNDAY, March 23
Another early first game for the All Stars and another great start to the day. BORP jumped to a 28-8 halftime advantage and rolled to a 48-30 win over the Reno High Rollers.

Game #4 for the All Stars immediately followed the Reno game and matched them up with the BORP Junior Road Warriors (formerly the Bay Cruisers). The All Stars first half pattern of stingy defense and well distributed offense repeated itself and the All Stars took a 20-4 half-time lead. The second half played out more evenly as the Jr. Road Warriors used their superior speed and all-over the court picking to better effect after halftime but steady play up and down the line-up from the All Stars secured their 4th win.

Jr. Road Warrior Koda Ahlstrom is guarded by Art Renowitzky (left) and Pah-Bah Natzee Harrison of the BORP All Stars

The Junior Road Warriors next played the Sacramento Royals and unfortunately took a half to get in synch. After halftime it was a whole different story as the Jr. Road Warriors played smart, spirited basketball that was capped by a buzzer beating 3 by Andre Sein-Colon. Not enough for a Road Warriors win but all part of some good preparation for Junior Nationals in a couple of weeks.

In their final game the BORP All Stars faced the Sacramento Cagers and there wasn’t much to like in the first half for BORP fans which ended 33-16 in favor of the Cagers. The All Stars then played their best half of the tournament almost turning the tables on the Cagers with their energetic team play and just ran out of time in a 49-41 loss.